At Anime Expo, Studio Bones, along with Kodansha and Avex, revealed a new anime project. During their panel, moderated by The Anime Man (Content Creator at GeeXPlus, Inc), Naoki Amano (Anime Producer at Bones), Megumu Tsuchiya (Editor at Kodansha), and Hirotsugu Ogo (Producer at Avex) proudly announced Gachiakuta as their newest anime series. Gachiakuta will debut in 2025.
Bones, Kodansha, and Avex are Excited for Gachiakuta
Gachiakuta is a dark fantasy story written and illustrated by Kei Urana. It follows Rudo, the main character, who is poor and lives in the slums. Trash, including members of the lower class, is thrown into “The Abyss.” Rudo ends up in the abyss after someone wrongly accuses him of murder. He must fight the monsters below, and he sets off to seek vengeance against the upper class.
Something that makes this series stand out over other manga, and soon-to-be anime, is the use of graffiti art. Hideyoshi Andou is the graffiti artist. Urana-Sensei brought on Andou-Sensei when her title was picked up for serialization.
During the panel, Kodansha editor Megumu Tsuchiya discussed how, from an editor’s perspective, the artwork is fantastic. Readers cannot help but be drawn to this story, especially with the stylish graffiti. Urana-Sensei has created a world no one else has seen before.
Panel attendees saw a special video from both of the artists. Urana-Sensei and Andou-Sensei are very excited to work with Bones as the animation studio. Naoki Amano, Producer at Bones, stated that he is thankful that they both love Studio Bones, but he feels a lot of pressure to make sure they do justice for Gachiakuta. Also, Hirotsugu Ogo, Avex Producer, talked about how he read Urana’s one-shot manga and was immediately drawn in by the art style and the characters. Her artwork and different storytelling elements all look incredible with graffiti art.
In fact, the studios were already in discussion about animating Gachiakuta before the first volume came to print. Naoki Amano praised the way Urana-Sensei creates these characters. Also, he believes this title has a strong impact. The series is a very interesting and dense project, according to Megumu Tsuchiya. Because the illustrations are dense, they are trying out different technologies to bring the series to life.
The series is sure to be a hit overseas, not just in Japan
Fans waited on bated breath during this panel. The room was completely full as attendees gathered in excitement over this new reveal from Studio Bones. Panel attendees got a first look at the sketches of Rudo in Gachiakuta. Andou-Sensei is overseeing the animation process. The team is working hard to keep the anime true to the manga’s impression. This is still heavily in the early production stage. However, there is no doubt that it will be well-received by overseas fans.
Hirotsugu Ogo explained that there are many elements of Gachikatua for overseas fans to enjoy. He hopes that they can transform this manga into a wonderful anime series that everyone will enjoy. Hirotsugu Ogo goes on to say that the series will absolutely make an impact on people around the world, not just in Japan.
Currently, two volumes of Gachiakuta are available. Volume 3 will release this month!
Bones Producer Naoki Amano and Kodansha Editor Megumu Tsuchiya provide a special message for Temple of Geek:
Bones Producer Naoki Amano and Kodansha Editor Megumu Tsuchiya hope you enjoy the Gachiakuta anime! #AnimeExpo2024 #Gachiakuta pic.twitter.com/ttcjlrK6HK
— Temple of Geek @ Anime Expo (@Templeofgeek) July 8, 2024
